Right now the Powerball Lottery Prize is at $500,000,000; one half of one billion dollars. Wow just typing that made me a little woozy! I won't lie to ya hon, I bought a ticket or two myself. So did my mom, so did my daughter, and so did most everyone I know just because the prize is so high.
Like most people, I've always had a mental list of what I'd do if I won a million dollars, even a few million. But wow, this prize, even after taxes it's still beyond my wildest dreams. Naturally there's the initial pay debts and buy houses for myself my mom and my 2 girls and hire my mom a staff! Then set aside college tuition for the grandkids. Heck, I'd pay college tuition for the whole family! Oh yeah, and travel: America first, Europe, Asia, Australia. I'd go by land and sea and air. Trains, cruises, hell maybe even a hot air balloon for a week or two!
But mainly I would share it. It would be great to create a nice home for families needing help and a place to live. How fun would it be to take kids with nothing out shopping for clothes and toys. How fulfilling to provide the means to feed not a few but a few hundred or thousand people in need.
I'd buy brand new electric beds for every room in the nursing home I work at. I'd throw the residents a huge party catered by some fabulous chef. Better yet, I could build them a full-fledged Bingo Hall and have a Bingo caller available all day every day! I could buy the place, well I'd have to pay someone to do the daily grind part though. Seriously, I'd love to give everyone of them everything they could dream of, just to see their faces when I told them it was theirs!
I'd create a scholarship for nurses and healthcare workers. Not for high school kids wanting to get into the field. No, my scholarship would pay to retrain those who have done this job too long but can't make as much money elsewhere without going back to school. But you don't want to go back to school because the tuition would negate any salary increase you'd get because you're already too close to retirement age. So I'd pay full tuition and expenses for a couple of years of retraining, requiring a month-long vacation before classes could be started. Ok, I'm rambling here.
But most likely, should my numbers be the ones drawn, the first use of the winnings would be putting a fair amount of it to paying the medical bills from the stroke I'd have when I found out I'd won!
Dream big!
My daughter and several of my friends have been doing daily Facebook postings about what they are thankful for since it is the month of Thanksgiving. I've been writing these blogs every day and haven't taken the time to do that as well so today I am going to share as much as I can of what I am thankful for.
First, my family. My mom is unpredictable and has a sense of humor that has to be experienced to fully understand. I am so grateful she has that back. After a stroke and the loss of her home due to Hurricane Katrina it was missing for a while. I am thankful that she has been able to regain it.
My daughters Laura and Mariah. They are the greatest, most beautiful works of art that I will ever have a hand in creating. They are strong, vibrant women that make me proud every single day just by being themselves.
My son-in-law Skyler. I have said on many occasions that had the Lord himself allowed me to design a mate for my daughter, my version would not have been as good. He is as good as they come; a great husband and father.
My grandsons Dylan and Daxton. They are 2 of the most spirited and loving boys ever to grace the planet.
All the rest of my relatives, those still around and those that have passed. Each one has been an example to me in one form or another. Even my crazy little brother.
My job as a nurse at a nursing home. It wears me to the bone sometimes and other times it uses up every last shred of emotional reserves I have and then some. It also provides moments of closeness and laughter that could not be found anywhere else. And it provides a comfortable existence for me as well, can't ignore that.
My friends. I might not have 400+ listed on Facebook and Twitter but the handful that are in my life more than make up for it. I have always placed quality over quantity and I have to say, my friends are true quality!
I am also thankful for the material things in my life such as a nice apartment and a working car. There are other material things in my life now that are nice to have, though in the end they aren't really of that much importance. I have started over with next to nothing several times and have come to see the non-essentials for what they are. I am thankful for my perseverance and ability to rebuild my life to suit my own dreams.
And finally, I am thankful for finally reaching a point in my life where I can see what I have and be grateful rather than looking at what I don't have and being disappointed.
